Gasifiable feeder head pattern



Feb. 7, 1967 A. WITTMOSER 3,302,256

GASIFIABLE FEEDER HEAD PATTERN Filed Sept. 15, 1964 INVENTOR,

Adolbert Wiflmoser Ronald E. Barry United States Patent 3,302,256 GASIFIABLE FEEDER HEAD PATTERN Adalbert Wittmoser, Lampertheim, Hesse, Germany, as-

signor to Full Mold Process, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis., a

corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 15, 1964, Ser. No. 396,530 1 Claim. (Cl. 22-158) This invent-ion relates to casting arrangements and more particularly to a further development in feeder head patterns used in connection with casting patterns.

As pointed out in co-pending U.S. applications 298,676, filed July 30, 1963 and 398,472, filed September 14, 1964, both assigned to the present :assignee, feeder head patterns are used to provide a source of molten casting material in areas of a casting where shrinkage is contemplated. Spherical patterns of gasifiable material, such as expanded polystyrene or the like, have been used quite extensively because of their case of handling and ready adaptability to any casting pattern material. The spherical feeder head pattern is connected to the casting pattern by means of a frusto-conical section which has a relatively small crosssectional area. Since connection was made at the small end of the cone, the molten casting charge :had a tendency to cool faster at this juncture, thus preventing the proper flow of the reserve casting material into the shrinkage cavity.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide an improved spherical type feeder head which overcomes the above disadvantage.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved spherical type feeder head which can be used in multiples for larger type castings.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a feeder head pattern which will provide a long continuous feeder head over various paths.

These objects are accomplished by making one of the base dimensions of the spherical feeder head at least equal to the diameter of the spherical portion of the feeder head. With one dimension equal to the feeder head, two parallel planar surfaces will be formed on opposite sides of the feeder head. The other two surfaces will still converge toward the connecting position so that a rectangular contact is established between the feeder head pattern and the surface of the pattern. With this enlarged contact surface area, the tendency for cooling at the connection is reduced, allowing for the free flow of the reserve casting material to the casting.

With a spherical feeder head pattern having two substantially parallel sides, it is also possible to make a number of identical feeder head patterns which can be stacked on a casting pattern to form an elongate feeder head pattern. The advantages of such an arrangement will become more readily apparent when the size of the castings is considered. With the increased use of gasifiable casting patterns, as described in the Shroyer Patent No. 2,830,343, the size of the casting is limited only by the capacity of the casting equipment rather than the shape of the casting as before. With the increase in size, the demand for feeder heads to compensate for shrink-age has also increased. It has, therefore, become necessary to place rows of spherical feeder heads along sections of the proposed casting. With a universal type feeder head pattern, it can be placed in rows forming a continuous feeding time for the reserve of molten casting material.

Where it is known that long rows of feeder heads are required, it is also possible to make one continuous feeder head having a longitudinal axis of either straight or arcuate shape.

Other objects and advantages will become more readily apparent when the following detailed description is read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is -a front view of the improved feeder head.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the improved feeder head.

h FgG. 3 is a front view of a row of the improved feeder ea s. h FdIG. 4 is -a perspective View of an extended feeder ea h FCIG. 5 is a perspective view of an arcuate type feeder Referring more particularly to the drawings, a spherical type feeder head 10 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The upper portion 12 has .a spherical surface having a diameter D of a predetermined dimension. In the front lview, FIG. 1, it will be seen that the base 12 has a width L at least equal to the diameter D of the feeder head so that enlcll walls 14 and 16 are substantially parallel to each ot er.

In the side view shown in FIG. 2 the side walls 18 and 20 converge toward base 12. The area of contact between the feeder head and casting will be rectangular providing a line contact with the casting pattern. If the spherical feeder head patterns are positioned in a side-byside relation, the line of contact will be extended in a continuous line which will provide a reserve of molten casting material for a large area of the casting. With the universal type feeder head, the sides are parallel so that they can be either placed side by side or glued together to form a continuous line.

In FIG. 4 a spherical feeder head 30 is shown having parallel end walls 32 and converging side walls 34. The longitudinal axis of this feeder head pattern is extended to provide a large reservoir area by eliminating the spaces between the individual feeder heads as seen in FIG. 3. The feeder head pattern is actually cylindrical rather than spherical but with the converging sides, it will still remain embedded within the mold material if the casting pattern has to be removed.

The feeder head pattern shown in FIG. 5 exemplifies one of the many shapes which can be formed in the present pattern material. The body 40 of the pattern has flat vertical ends 42 and converging inner and outer walls 44 and 46, respectively. The axis of the pattern has been turned to a circular or arcuate pattern and can be placed on the casting pattern so that it overlies .a similarly shaped member which may be in a shrinkage area. The flexibility of this type of pattern has made it extremely valuable to counteract shrinkage problems in large castings.

Although only a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it should the apparent that various changes and modications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a casting arrangement in combination a casting pattern having substantially the configuration of the article to be cast, and

one or more feeder head patterns each having a spheri.

cal top, two parallel sides and two converging sides,

3 4 the distance between the two parallel sides being References Cited by the Examiner equal to the diameter of the sphere,

said sides forming a rectangular base for engagement UNITED T PATENTS with the surface of the casting pattern, 6/1940 Wllhams 3 said feeder head patterns consisting essentially of a 5 2'295227 9/1942 Mzflckett 22-134 material which is gasifiable substantially Without resi- 8/1958 Fnchknwht 22*134 due at the temperature of the molten casting charge, 3,157,924 11/1964 Smlth 22 196 whereby one or more such feeder head patterns can the a a U placed side by side on the casting pattern at areas SPENCER OVLRHOLSER P'lmary Examiner Where the greatest shrinkage is anticipated. w R. D. BALDWIN, Assistant Examiner. 

